I'm Andy Warren, currently a SQL Server trainer with End to End Training. Over the past few years I've been a developer, DBA, and IT Director. I was one of the original founders of SQLServerCentral.com and helped grow that community from zero to about 300k members before deciding to move on to other ventures.

Archives: April 2012

I had a chance over the weekend to finish reading the Verizon 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report. It’s a compilation of data about 2011 data breaches and they try to call out what they see as interesting in addition to showing a few different views of the data. It’s… Read more

I ran across this list of Sharepoint blogs by Rene Modery while doing some Sharepoint reading. He has an OPML file of the list, making it easy to add to your reader. Thought some of you might find it useful.

We’re about to start our second experiment over at The Mentoring Experiment and we need mentors. Last time we picked a handful of people as mentors so that we could control that portion of the experiment. This time we’re just asking people that are interested to apply to be a…Read more

I’ll be spending the day with the 2011 Idera ACE’s (aka the old aces) and the 2012 Idera ACES (the new ones!) as we share lessons learned, work on being better at presenting and networking, and in general talk about ways to have a positive impact. Then tonight I’ll be… Read more

I suppose there is an almost limitless number of mistakes that managers can do and do make, it’s the nature of any work by and about people. My list today is from the perspective of someone that often gets to watch teams work – the outside observer.

Just got the email, Orlando will be having its sixth annual SQLSaturday this year on September 29th, 2012, at Seminole State College. There is no doubt that it’s my favorite event of the year, and it’s now officially on my calendar. Call for speakers is now open, and it my… Read more

Craig Purnell and I are hosting an informal networking event at SQLRally this year on Friday May 11th from 7-8:30 am. I’ve done this for the past couple years at the Summit with good results, networking over coffee seems natural and approachable. If you’re attending SQLRally this year I hope… Read more

A few weeks ago I was running errands on a Saturday, with an almost final stop at Home Depot to pick up some stuff for the garden. I had my daughters with me and they were ready for a break so we stopped at McDonalds for the dollar sundae for… Read more

If you want to blog you need ideas, something to write about, and sometimes that leads to the blank stare as you realize you have no ideas in mind right then. Enter Plinky. It gives you a topic to write about every day (if you need one that often!).… Read more

It’s helpful at work to understand things at work change from time to time and to consider the impact on you and the people you work with as the changes occur. While it may seem obvious, it’s easy to get fooled into thinking that the current state of things is… Read more

I’m going to finish up my thoughts on stress by talking about the philosophy I’ve evolved, some of the tricks I use, and places where I sometimes stumble. I don’t expect to ever be stress free entirely (and probably wouldn’t want to be), but I know that the better I… Read more

Stress affects everyone, but it’s easy to forget that. Once you get sensitized to it, it’s amazing to pick up on the behavioral changes that happen to co-workers under certain kinds of stress. We may consider their issue to be stressful, but we don’t get to decide. Don’t dismiss their… Read more

One of the things I like about SQLSaturday is that it’s a place to try new ideas. This year on the Monday prior to the PASS Summit we’re doing something totally new, a SQLSaturday held aboard a charter flight that will start in Orlando, then stop in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver,… Read more